As graduate students, Bob Zybach and Jan Meranda were in Dr. Brauner's class at OSU and worked together to locate and document the lost town of Tampico in the Soap Creek Valley north of Marysville in the 1800s. Jan’s husband John participated by surveying to locate the town along Tampico Road.

Bob already knew a bit about Letitia and David living near Soap Creek and Jan got interested in them through him.  A few years after their initial project, Jan contacted him about doing further research on the Carsons or maybe he contacted her since he was still working for the College of Forestry on oral histories; Jan participated in the Eugene Glender history since the Glender family owned the Carson land from 1910 to 1941 when it became part of Camp Adair.

The whole story slowly moved on through the 1980s as they discovered multitudes of documents in books and newspapers, archives, etc. Bob located Martha's descendants in Umatilla County. John and Jan made road trips to photograph Carson/Lavadour graves in that area. They all made several road trips to Douglas County to take pictures of the area where Letitia lived, Andrew worked and built his house.

Jan worked with Ruby Garmon to clean up the Stephens graveyard east of Myrtle Creek where Letitia and Andrew are buried; most of the cemetery is on BLM land but their graves are not. Jan also worked with Jane Kirkpatrick who wrote the novel "A Light in the Wilderness" and she encouraged Jan to write two other books about Letitia. Jan took up much of the transcribing of documents into various word documents; she also focused on David Carson’s time in Missouri. Archivist and historian, Larry Landis got involved and has also been integral to the mission of developing these materials and narratives. 

Bob and Jan visited Stephen's cemetery, where Letitia and her son, Jack are buried. They visited multiple times, in 1990 and again in 2013, they also visited the Elliff Family DLC where Letitia lived after being forced off her Soap Creek Valley Land. All of these photos can be accessed in the Contemporary Photos collection. 

A 1990 photograph of historian Jan Meranda standing in a field at Letitia Carson's homesite in Douglas County, Oregon.

From a series of photos taken by historian Bob Zybach in 1990 in the Stephens Graveyard along South Myrtle Creek, a few miles west of her long-time Douglas County home.

A 1990 photograph of historian Jan Meranda standing next to Letitia Carson's grave after it has been pieced back together. Letitia Carson's gravestone is located in Stephen's Cemetery in Myrtle Creek, Douglas County, a few miles west of her long-time Douglas County home.

From a series of photos taken by historian Bob Zybach in 1990 in the Stephens Graveyard along South Myrtle Creek, a few miles west of her long-time Douglas County home.

Jan Meranda in Stephen's Cemetery. Letitia rests in Stephens Cemetery in Douglas County, Oregon. Benjamin Stephens had a Land Claim nearby and the cemetery is named for him and was on his property. He likely had a relation to Letitia and Jack, giving her a major tombstone and a prominent position in his graveyard.

A photograph of historian Jan Meranda and Jerry Kirkpatrick in Stephen's Cemetery. From a series of photos taken by historian Bob Zybach on September 7th, 2013 at Elliff Cabin, where Letitia lived and worked after leaving David Carson's estate and in the Stephens Graveyard along South Myrtle Creek, a few miles west of her long-time Douglas County home.

John and Jan Meranda (husband and wife), Scott McGrew and Oregon Black Pioneers VP Gwen Carr (siblings), Jennene Johns (owner of the Ranch along with husband Dale Johns), Historian Bob Zybach, Author Jane Kirkpatrick, and Roxanne (left to right) at the Johns' Ranch at Elliff Cabin, where Letitia lived and worked after leaving David Carson's estate. 

In 2016 and 2017, Jan Meranda wrote two fictional pieces telling the story of Letitia Carson from a non-historical angle. 

• Meranda, Janet. Freedom’s Light: The Letitia Carson Story Begins. CreateSpace, 2016. A fictional account of Letitia Carson’s early life.
• Meranda, Janet. Oregon Trail Diary: Letitia Carson, 1845. CreateSpace, 2017. A fictional account of Letitia Carson’s 1845 journey over the Oregon Trail.